A friend and I once drove onto a beach to camp. The sign said it was legal, which was great, but the car got stuck in wet sand, which was not so great. The tide was coming in, and guess what? You can鈥檛 jack up a car in sand. We managed, in great haste, to get a tow from another driver, but it was a close call聽and we felt compelled to hand him a wad of cash, which put a major dent in the ramen budget for the rest of the road trip. And it could have ended far worse.
Just because it鈥檚 legal聽to camp somewhere doesn鈥檛 mean it鈥檚 advisable. Do your homework before you decide where to camp. Maybe you won鈥檛 get stuck in sand,聽but the site might be dirty, noisy, or like the area at one national monument site I once found myself stuck at with friends鈥攂eautiful聽but as tightly packed as a Japanese capsule hotel.
Here are two apps that will help you avoid the hassle and improve your car camping experience.
Campfinder ($2.99, and ) provides other campers鈥櫬爎atings and reviews of campsites. You can search by current or other location and filter by price and amenities. Our recommendation is to start here, and then do some advance聽Web recon聽to confirm.
GPS Kit ($9.99, only) is the very best tool we鈥檝e seen for navigating to a site or trailhead via someone else鈥檚 GPX track (the digital breadcrumb trail that somebody else has recorded and shared). Not only does it simulate what a $400 GPS unit would do, it also navigates, even without a cell signal, using your iPhone鈥檚 built-in GPS capabilities. To do this right:
1. Download the area map at home over Wi-Fi. Do this for where you鈥檙e going聽as well as any adjacent map grids, just in case.
2. Get the GPX track you want to follow, or at least drop a pin for the location where you鈥檙e going ahead of your trip.
3. Make sure your phone is plugged into a power source during navigation! Mapping uses a lot of juice.
Note that GPS Kit 听补苍诲听 to make all of this easier for novice users to follow.
What to Look for in a Campsite
1. Read the ground. If there鈥檚 a nice, soft, hollow spot,聽that鈥檚 where a puddle used to be. Better to put your tent on a slope, rather than where water settles.
2. Use shade to your advantage. Use a cliff face or trees to cool your site in the afternoon.聽Ideally, position your tent where morning sun will warm and wake you.
3. Before pitching your tent, scout the site and poke a few tent stakes into the ground.聽You want to know if you can鈥檛 drive stakes before you鈥檙e halfway into the setup process.
4. Bugs bugging you? Seek a clearing.聽To聽find a breezier point, walk farther uphill. But remember:聽Unless there鈥檚 a snowfield, ascending usually takes you away from a ready water supply.
5. Always dry out your tent when you get home.聽(Hanging it upside down from a garage door works.) Even if the camping was dry, condensation funkifies your abode and will lead to permastink if you鈥檙e not careful. This rule goes double for sleeping pads and bags.
6. What broke or got grimy during the trip? Fix it as soon as you鈥檙e home, whether it鈥檚 a small tear in a down sleeping bag or your kid鈥檚 muddy footprints in the tent.
7. Once your tent is dry and repaired, stow it loosely in a large plastic bin or cardboard box. Keep it聽out of the light, which will age the synthetics and waterproofing. Do the same with your sleeping bag.